GENERAL ITEMS.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 December 1915, Page 5

GENERAL ITEMS.

NOTES FROM THE TIMES. TENSION IN BELGIUM INCREASING. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Received Dee. .3, 5.5 p.m. London, Dec. 2. The Times correspondent at Amsterdam says that postal connection with Belgium is difficult, owing to delays caused by the Germans' restrictions of traffic between Belgium and Holland, on the ground of communications reaching- the enemy front. The passenger traffic is diminishing daily, and passes are sparingly granted. The tension in Belgium is increasing, as the German exactions are growing.

VALUE OF GERMAN COIN. The Times' correspondent at Xew York states that the International Bankers' Association nttribnte the depreciation of the German mark to the excess of imports, and also to the report that Germany is preparing to float a new war loan of 500 millions sterling. It is pointed out that Germany is now practically on a paper basis. KAISER'S VISIT TO VIENNA. The Echo .do Paris' Rome correspondent reports that sensationalists say that the JCaiser's visit to Emperor Franz Josef was due. to hitter AiistroGerman dissensions on the question of Poland, arousing conflicts and complications similar to those leading to the trouble of 186fi. HARMONY RESTORED. Zurich reports that harmony lias been restored, and that the visit will probably Tie followed by a theatrical display by an entry into Constantinople.

MERE BLUFF. A German wireless describes the stories of concentration in Bessarabia as merely bluff, and says that only recruits and schoolboys are drilling. FRANCE TO BUY MERCHANT SHIPS. Received Dec. .1, 5.40 p.m. Paris, Dec. 3. The Government has introduced a Bill to purchase 50 merchantmen, in order to combat the high freights on foodstuffs and other necessaries.